Get Creative Salvage Ideas from Houzzers' Reuse Projects

Save money and show off your resourcefulness by borrowing from these creative home projects using salvaged materials

Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.

Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More

You Houzzers never cease to amaze me. You're clever, resourceful and very handy! We put out the call for you to share your creative salvage ideas, and you answered with new uses for wine barrels, church pews, old windows, shutters, shipping containers, bowling alleys and dilapidated barns. Ever resourceful, you've scoured the landfill drop-off areas, reused what could have been refuse in your remodeling jobs, gone Dumpster diving and asked neighbors for those old bricks they had lying around. Thank you to everyone for sharing your stories. Be sure to check out the original salvage Houzz call to see all of the projects and ideas; we have room to share only a portion of them here.

When putting together this kitchen, Jutta Rikola customized cabinetry from pieces found in a kitchen that was about to be demolished, and from other pieces found in a barn. A few energizing coats of bold paint and some snazzy hardware breathed new life into the cabinets in their new home. You'll hardly recognize them when you see the before shots.

Houzz pro Jo White added big curb appeal with something she found at the county dump. She transformed a discarded iron daybed into beautiful French-inspired handrails around her cottage door.

David Lipchik creates boxes for succulents that hang vertically on the wall, like art, from salvaged wood. Here's his tutorial.

Art supplies don't come cheap; thus artists are some of the most clever scavengers around. Artist Terry Widner took an old, no-longer-used laminated computer desk and made 4-foot art panels out of its MDF core. The pieces became interesting canvases for artwork.

Theaters have provided wonderful pieces for reuse for clever Houzzers. Houzz user mirandahastings repurposed doors from a 1930s movie theater. She hung them on barn door hardware, and they now cover the pantry.

Pro Doyle Hudson made these large pendant lights from speakers that once sat atop the snack bar at a Midwestern drive-in movie theater.

Houzz user lynnsmith57 scooped up an old theater "Coming Attractions" display for $5 at an auction and turned it into a one-of-a-kind mirror.

When it comes to reusing wood, knowing its history automatically transforms the items into conversation pieces. Houzzer summilux scooped up purpleheart planks from dismantled railroad cars and crafted these shelves. The wood "was dimensionally stable and required no planing and only a little sanding. It lives on, among other things, on my wife's desktop, various bookcases, a trestle table and cabinet shelving," he says.

Summilux offers a great tip: Repurpose stained glass and other art glass pieces in places where insulation is not an issue, such as an interior door.

Sometimes the history comes from the site where your home stands. Houzz user Holly and her husband had to take down a poorly constructed addition at their 1851 stone farmhouse. They were able to salvage old beams full of character from the old addition and use them in the kitchen as columns.

Holly's husband also salvaged boards from the shoddily built addition and made a beautiful farm table out of them.

Houzz user lindagreg created a charming hay barn from an old shipping container. (This popular trend has been dubbed "cargotecture.")

"We added windows with barn wood shutters, old horseshoes for decoration on shutters, made a fake roof out of old rusty tin and painted it red!" she says.

Foxhuntmom repurposed an entire building, transforming a 1950s gas station into her home. When she bought her land near Fayetteville, Arkansas, the station had already been decommissioned.

"We're located in the beautiful Ozarks, and repurposing here is a way of life," foxhuntmom says. "My ceilings are old weathered wrinkle tin, and my cabinets are heart pine salvaged from a Victorian demolition. The barn and bunkhouse above are framed with telephone poles. The horse post and rail fencing is oak from salvaged barns."

Interior designer Gina Fitzsimmons turned a Dumpster dive into a patinated shutter panels. "They were very old and made with wooden pegs holding them together," she says. Now they flank framed antique seagull bookplates. "The wall was a stunner by the time we got it all put together!" she says.

Houzz user ddelora scooped up an old grammaphone at a yard sale for $5. Her husband connected an old broom handle and a galvanized elbow, she painted it, and it was transformed into a giant flower sculpture for her yard.

When it comes to gathering and reusing bricks, the less matchy-matchy they are, the better. Houzz user meddler saved bricks from an old chimney while also collecting bricks with writing on one side and half bricks that were old and an interestesting color.

"In old neighborhoods people always seem to have a few bricks that they would like to get rid of and will just give them to you," meddler says. "We laid our entire patio using all these bricks in a random laying. The bricks you collect need to be about the same thickness. At the end we filed the spaces between the bricks with polymeric sand and watered in. It is a beautiful and very unique brick patio." Yes it is, meddler!

When G3 Studios Decorative Painting needed extra space for animals, it turned to an extra heated shed on the property. The problem was, there was only a shoestring budget for renovation.

"We found some barns in the area which had collapsed, and the owners gave us permission to use what we needed," says one of the team members. "We found barn wood, tin panels, farm equipment parts, doors and windows. We also scoured roadsides and garage sales, where we found more doors and windows. We used pallets and broken-down outdoor decor, which we repurposed. If it was free, we found a way to use it. We even found insulation left over from my jobsites."

After completing the work the G3 group loved the building so much, they joined the dogs and now use it as office space and a painting studio.

Trixylarue dressed her guest bath in head-to-toe salvaged pieces. "We took flooring out of a house that was built in 1881. After hauling it home, taking the nails out, stripping it twice, putting poly on it, it became the countertop and flooring," she says.

She added her grandmother's old sheet music to the thin plywood vanity doors, as well as framing some of it and hanging it on the walls.

"The wall above the vanity is beadboard from a lakeside cottage, with the original paint and stain," trixylarue says.

JB Architects designed this striking accent wall, which is made up of old winery racks.

Houzzers have given pieces of bygone bridges new lives too. JB Architects reused an old timber bridge in new cladding and frames.

Wine Country Craftsman loves to reuse Napa wine barrel rings in a unique way. One way is to turn the rings into interesting light fixtures, like this industrial pendant.

When Houzz user blairbec moved into a condo, she wasn't wild about the dining room light fixture and couldn't find one she liked, so she made her own. She repurposed the living room fixture's frame (she'd replaced it with a ceiling fan), added a $7 bamboo table runner and a parasol she was given as a gift while living in China. She repainted the parasol's tip black and added a tassel and beads.

Houzz user Carlo M. turned sturdy teak from a bridge in Indonesia into a beautiful outdoor table and benches.

"Upon finishing our front bath and shower remodel, I got an estimate for a glass shower wall that exceeded the entire cost of the remodel," says Bradley Ross. Instead of shelling out for the expensive glass, he found an old French pocket door, painted and sealed it multiple times and added tempered shatterproof glass. "To finish the look and protect the glass from water spots, we placed a poly brocade curtain behind the door," he says. The total costs were just a fraction of the cost of a glass enclosure, and now the shower has a unique architectural element.

"I salvaged all of the double-hung windows from our original porch before we put on an addition and repurposed them into dining room mirrors by brushing a coat of metallic gold paint over the original, aged base paint and replacing the glass with mirrors," says Lorre Jackson of Casart Coverings. By the way, Jackson says she has more of these windows than she has time to list on Craigslist, so let her know if you're interested in scooping any of them up.

When Rollin Fox of Sleeping Grape Wine Cellars was able to acquire 60 white ash church pews, he thought he'd died and gone to heaven. "We estimated them to be over 85 years old; the quality of the wood in them would be difficult to equal today," he says. "They are in 12-foot sections, perfectly clear, and have no flaws — a woodworker's dream!"

Fox milled the pews and used them in a series of wine cellars playfully dubbed "Shrines for Wine." "So far we have built three wine cellars using the milled pews. Some of the larger portions of the Gothic arch doors are from newly acquired ash, but the majority of the pieces are from the retired pews," he says.

Speaking of churches, Hull Historical used salvaged materials from a Roman Catholic church in this new Gothic revival home, creating new millwork to match the salvaged materials.

Houzz user Lea Kawabe laid her eyes on these old crates and saw a dining room table.

These are incredible ideas for repurposing materials, even raising "dumpster diving" to a whole new respectable level! I once found a Persian carpet in a dumpster, and an antique iron bedstead (head and foot only) on the roadside, which I refinished. I'd love to see more successful repurposing stories.

This is my favourite kind of furniture, reno, decor. I love how each of these houzzers has put their own stamp on something useful, and nothing ended up at a landfill and all of these items, homes, etc., have become even more beautiful and have a great history as well.

Hi there, if you want to see what can be done with shipping containers go to www.restart.org.nz after the earthquake here in Christchurch, New Zealand, some very clever people decided to build an entire shopping precinct !

As big Houzz fans, we wish you would take the time to talk about the serious LEAD hazards involved in home renovation and salvage repurposing. Lead was banned from house paint in 1978 in the US, so when you stir up those pre-1978 layers, you are creating a potential hazmat area in your home. Moreover, there is still lead to be found in bathroom and kitchen fixtures, tile, later marine paint, decorative items, brass-plated fixtures, etc. Our toddler was lead poisoned when our pediatrician neighbor repainted her home. Houzz, please spread the word on present-day lead hazards and safe renovation and painting methods. Lead poisoning causes irreversible brain damage (among a host of other grave ailments) to small children and has been linked to miscarriage. Thank you!

I like to think I'm a clever and creative person, and I love the concept of salvaging and repurposing - but never in a million years would I have come up with some of these wonderful, imaginative ideas! Some of these are absolutely brilliant, and look absolutely beautiful. I especially love the daybed "handrails" outside that enchanting cottage door (how I'd love to knock on that door and be invited in for a tour!), the French door-to-shower door, the parasol, the old iron stove door being used as a back splash, the gorgeous millwork being used in the equally Gothic revival home (looks like it's been there all along!), and so many of the furnishings. I also love the red grammaphone but can't help but wonder if hummingbirds swarm to it, only to be disappointed! (Maybe a feeder could be attached). Thank you for this article and these photos. It all reminds me of a saying my New England Yankee grandparents often quoted:

<i>Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Do without.</i>

To which I'd add, "Or find a new and clever use for it!" (Okay, so I'm no poet. But I mean well!) :-)

I love things like this! How do you obtain the materials? I once had a counter in my store made from a famous fishing pier that was demolished and the people who bought the store replaced it with something modern. Broke my heart!

my husband was sweet enough to drag this "log" home for me one day. (i have a thing for logs!). we have two entrance ways, so i blocked this one off, creating a bookshelf. i don't know if it qualifies for "repurposing", unless repurposing a doorway counts!

years ago, after a hurricane took out a bunch of pine trees and I had to pay to have them removed from my property, I took one of the bigger ones and had it cut into slabs that we laid out for a walkway. They lasted for several years but if anyone does something like that, you would need to re-seal them more often than we did to make them last longer. We used that clear sealer like you put on decks to seal them.

Inhaling particulate matter in general and lead and asbestos exposure in particular is a very valid concern. It's difficult to test for the toxic content of many materials used in home construction. Lead content, though is easy to test for. I used recycled exterior boards from a barn demo for my library/music room reno. Since I was buying the board "as is", I brought up that concern to the seller. He noted that lead detection kits are inexpensive and easy to use. While I felt pretty safe with respect to the paint being lead free, I still used an industrial grade respirator and worked outside when cleaning up those boards.

For those who would like to reclaim and repurpose, but may not have the space and time to take on a major project, look for small items with basic shapes. I repurposed this vintage turntable platter as a wall mirror that doubles as a candle plate.

Wow, a Persian carpet in a dumpster. Usually that only happens when it has either bedbugs or a body rolled up in it. Great find! Also those beautiful green shutters.... and any kind of stained glass! We live in a very new urban area and items like that come at a premium.

Great ideas!!! Love it, recycle, don't throw it away...there IS NO AWAY! I do a lot of little things like recovering my dinning room chairs..several times, easy way to change a look, and inexpensive too. Took an old heavy coffee table, made a cushion for it and found a twin bed headboard to bolt to the back. Instant seating for the foyer. Throw on a few and pillows too. Keep the ideas coming!! Thanks.

Love this and want more! I have use windows from the dump in my basements with mirrors and photos to give you the feeling of seeing outside and to see from room to room for the open feeling. I also turned an old high school science lab cabinet into a breakfast counter in my kitchen. Old shutters into a bench for our patio and old steel tubs into planters and beverage services for outdoor parties. Old coffee tables into footstools. Refinishing many tables and chairs. Love the old made new! Memories in each pieces!

We built a carriage house to live in and used many reclaimed items: including a set of brass elevator doors, bowling alley countertops, pickle barrel staves for a ships ladder, reclaimed wood doors, chalkboard slate for a hearth, and on and on. Here is a photo of the elevator doors.

My latest find is the local granite fabricators - they have acres (literally) of pieces of granite, marble, onyx, just waiting to be claimed and fabricated. I just salvaged a beautiful piece of granite for our master bathroom countertop and its lovely and affordable.

It's one thing to have a big budget and meander off on a shopping spree around France and pick up some 200 yo chandeliers and a couple of vintage doors from a crumbled chateau, oh and a Louis XV dining set too if there's room.

It's quite another thing to see how creative we can be when squeezed by a tighter budget, and/or enabled with a vivid imagination.

My favourite Houzz story of 2013 so far - thank you, Becky!

(I noticed that people were asking about the tile backsplash in the blue kitchen - those are reproduction Ishnik tiles, and you can find them on Ebay, if not locally)

Fabulous finds and wonderful creativity! A little more sharing on salvaged exterior or garden elements? Loved the used brick, how about salvaged, reclaimed cobblestone and curb ? Keeps it out of landfills and can be removed and reused again if your landscape design ever changes!

Wow, everything is gorgeous. I love how 'salvage' can look fresh and new. I also love love love how that reclaimed piece salvage can become the focal point in a space.
Here are more great ideas using salvage and Makers who would love to help you create something you'll absolutely love >>> http://custm.co/hz/132

I loved the idea about transforming a daybed into a porch swing! My teenage daughter wants to get rid of hers, but it's been in the family for 25 years so I've hesitated parting with it. Now I can keep the rememberance AND keep the peace.

@epatrickphoto - you're in luck! The clever door-turned-daybed swing creator agreed to be the subject of an upcoming ideabook! She gave us lots of details and in-progress shots to share with you all; be on the lookout for it in the next week or so.

I had a "buried alive" garage and turned it into an art studio. I made the drawing table out of a hollow core door, added a grand piano hinge, covered it with pale ochre lattice wallpaper, added a brass side support rod and it was finished...the long bookcase was made using the top cubby shelves from my husband's office unit...we added two more sections, marbled the top, and it, too, was finished. Fun room now! I also made and upholstered the footstools and decopaged the trays to use as a coffee table.

Thank you Becky. I also repurposed an antique Harvard Co. Dental cabinet as a taboret. I took it apart totally, painted it, reassembled it and its now ready for its new function. All of the chemicals used in my various enterprises are housed in a pine armoire. I love the room as everything is close at hand.And thank you JTBaldwin (buried alive, indeed!) and crypticartist for your responses. I have now worked in excruciating chaos and blissful order and I gotta say I much prefer the order: )!

I love all of the ideas here! One thing I love to do is find anything framed and turn it into something new. My basement windows were replaced years ago and the old ones were just sitting around. So I turned some into window frames, but I didn't even paint them, just cleaned hem and hung em.

The one had a broken pane, so I just knocked out the other two panes, painted a piece of wood with chalkboard paint, tacked it on the back and viola!

No matter how big or small it may be, it's always fun to be creative...